Shining a light on unsung heroes
Guest Opinion
Published 06/26/2014
by Michael G. Pappas
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A
year ago, almost to the day, San Franciscans awaited with anxious
anticipation the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions on the Defense of
Marriage Act and Proposition 8,
California's same-sex marriage ban. On the eve of Pride, as those high
court pronouncements echoed throughout every conceivable media, we as a
community never seemed more liberated or united. We shared together in
that euphoric moment, feeling, in a profound
way, that we were both witnesses to and participants in the making of
history.
Meandering
through the masses at the Castro Street celebration of those high court
decisions, I encountered local photographer Bill Wilson who shared a
revelation, "I
just photographed a mother and her infant child and it dawned on me,
that child will never know a time when there was not marriage equality."
A hopeful realization, I thought, yet I speak to so many 20- and
30-year-olds today, whose only comprehension of the
isolation and shame of the closet and loss of friends and loved ones to
the epidemic is limited to oral history passed down or academic study.
Seen in that context, it's hard to help but feel that the human rights
victories and liberties we celebrate today
with revelry at Pride were fought, not only by today's activists, but
by the heroes of previous generations, upon whose shoulders we stand.
Not
the least among those heroes, laboring tirelessly to "increase
equality, eradicate discrimination, and protect human rights for all
people," are the commissioners,
staff, and citizen leaders who, for almost four decades have served on
the SF Human Rights Commission's LGBT Advisory Committee.
Past
chairs include such luminary LGBT activists as Martha Knutzen, and
transgender icons Theresa Sparks, the current HRC executive director,
and Health Commissioner
Cecilia Chung.
A
microcosm of our community, today's LGBT Advisory Committee comprises
of thought leaders from every sector. Lending minds and voices to the
conversation are representatives
from the nonprofits Trikone, Shanti Project, Larkin Street Youth
Services, Out4Immigration, OneJustice, API Wellness Center, Family
Violence Law Center, Transgender Law Center, Our Family Coalition, and
Forward.US. Those nonprofit leaders stand shoulder-to-shoulder
with members of the tech community, including a leader from Google's
Gaygler LGBT Employee Resource Group. Add to the mix an advocate from
the city's deaf community, members from the religious community,
including an LGBT Mormon activist and a Lutheran pastor advocating for the homeless and transgender youth; an African American
veteran activist who just finished his tenure on the city's LGBT Aging
Policy Task Force; an HIV/Infectious disease specialist; leaders in
immigration; the transgender community; a congressional
staff person and an assistant district attorney.
An
integral and vitally important component of the Human Rights
Commission, the LGBT Advisory Committee provides community involvement
and opportunity for in-depth study
and exploration of issues, offers assistance and advice to the
commission regarding discrimination against the LGBT communities,
advocates for the civil rights of persons with AIDS/HIV, and educates
our LGBT partners in advocacy about a diverse range of issues
that impact our community.
Considered
by many the unsung heroes of public policy making, the SF Human Rights
Commission's LGBT Advisory Committee, workgroups and policy and social
justice unit
staff, over the years, have researched, deliberated, presented reports,
and incubated policy measures that led to the drafting of such
legislation as domestic partners benefits, the formation of the LGBT
Aging Policy Task Force and, most recently, SF law enforcement
agencies' decision to discontinue the use of condoms when prosecuting
cases involving sex workers.
The
LGBT Advisory Committee has never been shy to take on bold and
controversial issues. Over the past decade the committee was responsible
for the formation of a task
force and held a public hearing on intersex issues, including the human
rights aspects of surgeries performed on intersex infants in order to
assign gender when the surgeries are not medically necessary. Both the
advisory committee and commission urged the
Board of Education to pass a resolution to establish a high school
course on LGBT history, politics, and culture and commit to funding LGBT
support services. It held panel discussions and community meetings to
study bisexual invisibility and issued a report
entitled, "Bisexual Invisibility: Impacts and Recommendations."
Together with the commission it held a public forum on unrecognized
families and issued a report "Beyond Marriage: Unrecognized Family
Relationships." It initiated a resolution unanimously passed
by the commission urging lawmakers and the governor to enact state
Senate Bill 1172, making it illegal for state-licensed psychologists to
practice "reparative therapy" on minors.
Current
issues being addressed by the advisory committee's work groups include
comprehensive immigration reform for impacted LGBTQ individuals and
families; deaf and
people with disability advocacy for LGBTQ individuals; keeping
nonprofits serving the LGBT community in San Francisco; advocacy related
to trans empowerment for immigrant trans women and trans women of
color; research, advocacy and a policy review of the city's
ID program and the program's impact on transgender residents with
respect to name and gender change; and advocacy related to bridging the
gap between the tech and LGBTQ communities.
Among
the issues emerging from the commission's policy and social justice
unit are the call for comprehensive transgender health care reform in
the Healthy San Francisco
program; the creation of a long needed LGBTQ youth citywide sensitivity
training and cultural competency program required by an ordinance, on
which we partnered with the Youth Commission; reports on human
trafficking, anti-bullying initiatives and equity and
inclusion of communities of color in the LGBT community. That unit is
also working diligently to support efforts to develop policies and
guidelines that would facilitate gender neutral bathrooms and public
accommodations for transgender individuals.
Pride
means different things to different people. For the SF Human Rights
Commission's LGBT Advisory Committee, it is the occasion to recommit
ourselves to laboring for
and securing the rights and freedoms our community deserves. In sharing
this brief overview of our work we invite you to join us in honoring
those heroes who came before us by helping to write the next chapter of
our exciting movement.
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